Spool



Jan. 24, 1939. H. c. HowsAM 2,144,723

SPOOL Filed Oct. 2, 1937 ELJ HILYARD C. Hows/m Patented Jan. 24, 1939' PATENT OFFICE SPOOL Hilyard crllowsam, Chicago, Ill.-, assignor to Hubbard Spool Gompan Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois 7 Application October 2,1934, Serial No. 166,966-

" com-ms. (c1. 24%123) My invention'relates. to: spools adapted par-' ticularly for heavierservice,[ as for example for supporting wire. I

The. object of the invention is to produce a 5 strong; and rigid. but: comparatively light spool formed of simple sheet metal parts accuratelyfltted and secured together so that the operation of: the spooladuring winding of wire thereon or unwinding of wire therefrom is balanced; v 10 My improved'spool andits constructionz are shown on theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure, l is anend view of the spool; and Figure 2 is a. sectionon plane II'-II,of Figure 1. The. barrel I of the: spool is preferably of a a length of seamless tubing of metal such as steel,

and the heads I I are-inztheform'of annular plates,

of. steel each provided with a central opening I2 whose inner diameter: is the same as'the. inner diameter of the barrel ID, the heads abutting the ends of the barreL.

At each endof. the/spool is a supporting and aligning; structure. in the. form'of a sheet metal,

plate I3 whose. central: portion is deflected inwardly to provide a. hub. comprising the cy- 25 lindrical wall "and the inner wall I51. The outer the hub partwwill'flt the opening I2 ofth'e headsv I I and the. adjacent end. of. the barrel I0, so that.

the walls I4 will serve to center the heads II relative to the barrel and" form supports for the barrel ends, the outer portions of the plates I3 engaging against. the outer faces of the heads to hold the heads. against. the ends of the barrel, the structure I3 being; secured in place as by welding thereof totheheads and to. the barrel.

Extending axially through the. barrel I0 is the arbor receiving: tube I6 whichis preferablya length. of seamless steel tubing. The inner At each end of the spool-isan end plate. I9v of sheet metal secured against the. corresponding 5 head by deflecting the peripheral portion II of. the head around the. peripheral portion of the. plate. The outer. walls or the structures l3 are of less diameter than. they end plates I19, and to receive the outer walls iof the structures I3 the v 55 inner. portions I9 of. theendplates are deflected diameter of the cylindrical wall I4v is-such. thatoutwardly' to clamp against the structures I3 when the outer portions II' of the heads are clamped around the peripheral portions of the end plates. The end plates have centralopenings 20, and. the portions Xof the walls I9 surrounding these openings are, deflected inwardly and againstthe inner faces of the, walls I9 to form double thickness wallsv surrounding the openings 20 to. strengthen the end plates. The diameter of theopeningslfl is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the arbor tube I6, and

thearbor tube ends I6" outside of'the-supporting flanges. l8 are flared as shown, so that they may abut against the flat innersides of the deflectedover endportions X surrounding the openings 5 and so that whenthe end plates I9 are secured by deflecting over of the head peripheral portions I I", the end plates willbe intimately held against the outer ends of the arbor tube. The deflected over portions X of the end platespresent rounded surfaces Y around the openings 20 to facilitate insertion of supportingarbors through the openings, and. the flared ends I6 of the arbor tube I6 will facilitate easy entrance of the arbor structure into the arbor tube for support of the spool 35 during the winding or. unwinding operations.

The end plate'walls I 9" are provided with openings 21' in. alignment with openings 2i. in the inner walls I5 of the supporting structure I3, these openings serving to receive drive pins, and serving also for venting the interior of the spool. In addition to the deflected over peripheral portionsl I' of the heads I I, the end wallsmay be secured as by spot welding at.points where the end walls engage the supporting structures I3, as indicated at Z.

I thus produce a strong and rigidyet comparatively light all sheet metal spool of few parts accurately aligned andsecured together to form a balanced structure which will turn accurately o duringthe process of winding wire thereon or unwinding wire therefrom. I do not desire, to. be limited to the exact. construction and arrangement shown and described, as changesandmodiflcations may be made without. departing from 5 thescope and spirit of the invention.

I claimasfollows:

1. A. spool comprising a tubular sheet metal barrel, heads in the. form of sheet metal disks abutting; the ends of said barrel and having openso portion of each end frame extending through the opening of the respective head disk and into the adjacent end of the barrel bore, the outwardly extending flange of each end frame being comparatively short and intimately engaging against the outer face of the respective head disk, the hub portions of said end frames being intimately secured to the barrel for intimately clamping the head disks between the barrel ends and the outwardly extending flanges of the end frames, end plates engaging against the outer faces of said end frames and havingtheir outer peripheral portions deflected inwardly for intimate engagement with the outer portions of the head disks, said end plates and the outwardly extending flanges of said end frames and said head disks being intimately secured together by welding, the outer peripheral portions of said head disks being deflected around the peripheral edges of said end plates, the inwardly directed flanges of said end frames having aligned openings'an arbor receiving tube extending through said openings, said end plates having openings in register with said arbor tube.

2. A spool comprising a tubular sheet metal barrel, heads in the form of sheet metal disks abutting the ends of said barrel and having openings in register with the barrel bore, end frames formed integral of sheet metal and each frame comprising a cylindrical hub portion and inwardly and outwardly extending radial flanges at the inner and outer ends thereof respectively, the hub portion of each end frame extending through the opening of the respective head disk and into the adjacent end of the barrel bore, the outwardly extending flange of each end frame being comparatively short and intimately engaging against the outer face of the respective head disk, the hub portions of said end frames being intimately secured to the barrel for intimately clamping the head disks between the barrel ends and the outwardly extending flanges of the end frames, end plates engaging against the outer faces of said end frames and having their outer peripheral portions deflected inwardly for intimate engagement with the outer portions of the head disks, said end plates and the outwardly extending flanges of said end frames and said head disks being intimately secured together by welding, the outer peripheral portions of said head disks being deflected around the peripheral edges of said end plates, the inwardly directed flanges of said end frames having aligned openings, an arbor receiving tube extending through said openings. said end plates having openings in register with said arbor tube, the portions of said end plates surrounding the end plate openings being deflected inwardly and radially outwardly to form a double wall with a curved edge surrounding the end plate opening, the ends of said arbor tube being flared outwardly and abutting against the deflected portions of the end plates.

I-IILYARD C. HOWBAM. 

